Tobacco-stemming mechanism.



l. C. BUCHANAN. `TOBACCO STEMMING mEcHANlsm.

I i, APPUCATION' FILED MAR.1.`1917. n gm Patented May 1, 191 I.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

atto: maga.

J. C. BUCHANAN. TOBACCO STEMMING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION` FILED MAR.1.I917 Mm l l Patented May1, 1917.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JAMES G.V BUCHANAN, F WASHINGTON, DISTRICT 0F COLUMBIA, SSIGNOR T0 RIB -'rosacco s'rniiiniin co., or isaifriivionn,

WARE.

TOBACCO-STEMMING MECHNISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

MARYLAND, A. CORPORATION OF DELA- Patented May 1, 191'?.

Application mediteren 1,1917. serial no. 151,737. v

To all 'whom t may concern.' ,I

Be it known that l, JAMES C. BUCHANAN, citizen' of the United States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia,

have invented certain new and usefullinprovements in Tobacco-Stemming Mechanism; and I do hereby declare the Jfollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others 1o skilled'in the art to -which it appertams to make and use the same. i

My invention relates to improvements in tobacco stemming machines and more particularly to that class of tobacco stemmers in which the leaf lamina or blade is removed from the leaf stem by rotating knives. The principal object of my inven' tion is to provide a mechanism of this class which will stem the leaves with greater effectiveness and efficiency than those machines heretofore employed. To accomplish this result., I have devised special rotating cutters which coperate with a reciprocating knife and' form a substantially triangu- `lar opening through which the stem of the leaf is drawn and each wall of said opening consists of a 'movin cutting edge, which cuts the lamina or b ade from the stem, as the stem passes through said opening.

A further object of my invention is to provide a tobacco stemming machine with horizontally disposed disks havinginclined peripheral teeth provided at their lower portions with cutting edges which form two 875 of the walls of the triangular opening, the

cutting edges of these rotating; disks co operating with a reciprocating knife mounted beneath the disks and forming the otherf wall of the triangular o ening.

With the foregoing o jects outlined and with other objects in view as will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, my invention consists in thenovel features hereinafter described in detail,

.illustrated in the accompanying drawing and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring tothe drawings; Figure 1 is a detail perspe tive view of a portion of a stemming machin set forth showing my improvements applied thereto. l

Fig. 2 is a front view of a portion of said detail.

e of the type y.

Vfigures of the drawings, pre to the axes of the disks, as shown,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the 55 horizontally disposed disks.

Fig..4 is an edge view of the same partly in section. V

Figs. 5 and 6 are detail perspective views of the central portions of modified forms of the'reciprocating cutting knife. v

Fig. 7 is a side view ofhe left hand disk and a portion of the leaf feeding belt and also a vertical sectional view of the horizontally disposed reciprocating knife. The manner of stemming a leaf by my improved mechanism is shown by this figure.

In the drawings 1 represents the longitudinally disposed side bars of the stemming machine frame, which are provided with longitudinally disposed slots 2 for the reception of bolts 3 that adjustably secure brackets 4 to the machine frame. ounted upon the upper ends of the brackets is a horizontally disposed narrow cutting knife plrovided with a forward cutting edge 5.

he knife 5 is'provided near its ends with transverse slots 6 through which extend bolts7 that are employed to movably secure the knife to the brackets and perinit the knife to be reciprocated. The mechanism for'. reciprocating the knife comprises a cam 8 which is rigi ly carried by a shaft 10, supported by a bracket 9, and the shaft is designed to be vrotated by suitable mecha-l nism (not shown) fromv the stemmer drive. A sprin 8a has one of its ends connected to the kni e 5 and its other -end connected to the bracket 9, and this spring acts to maintain thel end of the knife incontact 'with the periphery ofthe cam S. PivotallyV secured to the stemming machineV frame in the known manner, are ordinary vbrackets 11, the vfreevends 12 of which support vertical shaftsv 13 carrying at their lower end s horizontally disposed disks 14, which are rotated by belts 15, that turn the pulleys 16. A-'suitable device such as a spring is/used for holding the free ends 12 of the brackets 11 toward one another and 100 to permit them to separateV slightly to accommodate leaf stems of varying thicknesses but as this feature forms vno part of my improvement, I have not illustrated the same.

The disks 14 are provided with serrations Aor teeth 17, as illustrated in all the ferably inclined and-the the inclined teeth 17 disks are so driven that they rotate toward each other and toward the front of the machine, asindicated by the arrows. It will be seen that the disks rest upon the horizontally disposed knife 5 and that the cutting edge 5*L is arranged just forward of the axes of the disks 14, as shown in Fig.

During the operation of stemming the blade portions lof the leaf pass below this knife and the knife serves to support the stem, vwhich passes over it. By adjusting the brackets 4 along the machine frame the forward edge of the knife- 5 toward or away from the axes of the disks 14 and thus the amount of stem taken from the leaf, may be regulated.

In stemming machines having horizontally disposed cutters, now in use, should a leaf be presented edgewise to the cutters, there is a tendency toystrip the stem on one side only, or not at all, and to overcome this defect, I have cut away the lower edges of thex teeth of the disks, as shown at- 18. These cut away portions 18 form with the knife 5, a triangular-opening` 19, each wall of which is a movable cutting ed e, and said opening permits the passage o the stems while the cutting edges successfully strip the lamina or Vblade therefrom.

The leaves are carried between the cuttersby the usual feed belts 20, which engage the butts of the leaves as shown in Fig. 1, and as the leaves are fed rearwardly, will draw the tobacco downwardly so that the edges ofl the cut away. portions of the forwardly revolving teeth, together with the horizontal knife,

will cut the leaf from its stem. This operation is facilitated by the vibration of the i of horizontally ldisposed disks havin ripheral teeth provided at their lower edges knife 5, which causes the leaf to be thrown from side to side so that it is positively engaged by the cutters and sheared. In Figs. 5 and 6, I have illustrated modified forms ofthe horizontally disposed cutting knife, in one of which I have provided a V-shaped cutting recess 40 and in the other a U-shaped recess 50, and in-use the recessed portion of the knife is adapted to aline with the meeting edges of the disks. What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a tobacco stemming machine, a. pair g. pe-

portions forming cutting edges, said disks being arranged in the same plane with their edges adjacent, and mechanism for rotating said disks.

2. In a tobacco stemming machine, a pair -of horizontally disposed disks having peripheral teeth provided at their lower edges with cut away with cut away portions forming cutting anism for rotating said disks, and a horiedges, said disks being arranged in-the'same plane with their edges adjacent, and mechmay be moved 1 Laagste 'onltally disposed knife located' below `said is s.

3. In a tobacco stemming machine, a pair of horizontally disposed disks having peripheral teeth provided at their lower edges with cut away 4portions, forming cutting edges, said disks being arranged in the same plane with theirl edges adjacent, and mechanism for rotating said disks, and a vibratory horizontally ,disposed knife. located below said disks.

4. Ina tobacco stemming machine, a pair of horizontally disposed disks having peripheral portions provided with cutting surfaces, said disks vbeing arranged in the same plane with their edges adjacent, and mechanism for rotating said disks,.and a vibratory knife arranged below the disksand cooperating withlsaid disks.

5. A tobacco stemming machine comprising-horizontally disposed disks having peripheral teeth provided at their lower edges with cut away portions forming cutting edges, saidV disks being plane with their edges adjacent, means for rotating said disks, a horizontally. disposed knife arranged beneath said disks, and cooperating with the same, and means for vibrating said knife.

6. A tobacco lstemming' machine comprising horizontally disposed disks having peripheral teeth provided with cutting edges, said disks being arranged in the same plane with their edges adjacent, means for rotating said disks, a horizontally disposed knife located beneathsaid disks .and coperating with, the same, means for vibrating said knife, and means relative to said less amount of the leaf.

7. A tobacco stemming machine comprising Vhorizontally disposed disks having peripheral teeth provided with cutting edges between which the stems of the leaves are adapted to be drawn, said disks being arranged inthe same plane with their edges adjacent, means for rotating said disks, a horizontally disposed knife located beneath said disks and provided with a recess which normally alines withA the meeting edges of` the disks, and means for vibratingi'said knife. v

8. In a tobacco stemming'machine, a pair of opposed disks having peripheral teeth cut away at one end to form cutting edges, means for rotatin for drawing a to acco leaf between said disks in position t have the cutting edges stem or strip the same.

9. In a tobacco stemming machine, a pair of parallel shafts mounted for movement toward and away from each other, a horizontal disk mounted on each of said shafts,

stem may be removed from arranged in the same said' disks, and means means for rotating said disks, means for and a horizontally disposed knife `forwardly presented edge disposed across drawing a tobacco leaf between said disks,

the lower faces of said disks.

10., In a tobacco stemming machine, 'a pair of parallel shafts mounted for movement toward and' away from each other, a horizontal disk mounted on each of said shafts and havingv peripheral teeth cut away at one end to form cutting edges, means for rotating said disks, means or drawing a tobacco leaf between said disks in osition to have the cutting edges stem or strlp the same, and a horizontally disposed knife with a forwardly presented cutting edge disposed across the lower faces of said disks.

11. In a tobacco stemming machine, a pair of parallel shafts mounted for movement toward and away from each other, a horizontal disk mounted on each of said shafts and 'having peripheral teeth inclined tothe axis 0f the disk, means for rotating said disks, means for drawing a tobacco leaf between said disks, and a horizontally disposed knife having a forwardly presented cutting edge disposed across the lower faces of said disks.

12. In a tobacco stemming machine, a pair of parallel shafts mounted for movement towardand away from each other, a horizontal disk mounted on each of said shafts and having peripheral teeth inclined to the axis of the disk and cut away 'at one end to form cutting edges, means for rotating said disks, means for drawing a tobacco leaf between said disks in position to have the cutting edges stem or stri the same, and a horizontally disposed knife with a forwardly presented cutting edge disposed across the lower faces of said disks.

' 13. In a tobacco stemming machine, a pair of parallel .shafts mounted for movement toward and away from each other, a. horizontal disk mounted on each of said shafts, means for rotating said disks, means for drawing a tobacco leaf between said disks, a horizontally disposed knife having a forwardly presented cutting edge arranged beneath said disks, and means for vibrating the with a V knife longitudinally across the ,path of the leaves.

14. In a tobacco stemmin machine, a pair of parallel shafts mounted or movement toward and away from each other, a horizontal disk mounted on each of said shafts and having peripheral teeth cut away at one end to form cutting edges, means for rotating said disks, means for drawing a tobacco leaf between said disks in position to have the cutting edges stem or strip the same, and a horizontally disposed knife with a forwardly presented cutting edge disposed across the lower faces of said disks, and means for vibrating the knife longitudinally across the path of the leaves.

15. In a tobacco stemmin machine, a pair of parallel shafts mounted or movement toward and away from each other, a horizontal disk mounted on each of said shafts, means for rotating said disks, means for drawing a tobacco leaf between said disks,

and a horlzontally disposed knife with a y forwardly presented edge disposed across the lower faces of said disks, the knife being adjustable from front to rear.

16. In a tobacco stemming machine, a pair of parallel shafts mounted for movement toward and away from each other, a horizontal disk mounted on each of said shafts and having peripheral teeth inclined to the axis of the disk and cut away at one end to form cutting edges, means for drawing a tobacco leaf between said disks in position t0 have the cutting edges stem or strip the same, and a horizontally disposed knife with a forwardly presented cutting edge disposed across the lower faces of said disks, the knife being adjustable from front to rear.

17. In a tobacco stemming machine, a pair of parallel shafts mounted for movement toward and away from each other, a horizontally disposed disk mounted on each of said shafts and having'perpheral portions provided with cutting edges, means for rotating said disks, means for drawing a tobacco leaf between said disks, and a horizontally disposed knife located beneath said cutters and provided with a recess which normally alines with the meeting edges of the disks.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

'JAMES o. BUCHANAN. 

